Qualla: Inishfree

Inishfree: Introduction

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Between 1980 and 1989, a community of practitioners of primal therapy lived in cottages on a small island off the Donegal coast. They were nicknamed The Screamers, after their habit of screaming as part of their psychological practice. The locals had mixed feelings. The commune had originally set up on the mainland at Burtonport in 1974, then moved out to Inishfree Upper, an island under a square mile in size, to try to make it work in deeper isolation. In 1989 they left for Colombia, where the cult would later end in violence. The island returned to quiet. The last permanent resident, an English saxophonist named Barry Pilcher, held on until 2013.

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Inishfree: Niall of the Nine Hostages

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Long before Screamers or saxophonists, Inishfree Upper was reportedly under the control of Niall of the Nine Hostages, the late 4th or early 5th century Irish chieftain who would become High King of Ireland and the legendary founder of the Ui Neill dynasty. The line of descent he...

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Inishfree: Thirty-Six Families

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In the early twentieth century, thirty-six families lived on Inishfree Upper. The island had a school. Two notable Gaeltacht writers taught there at different times: Séamus Ó Grianna, the prolific Donegal Gaeltacht novelist whose work appeared under the pen name Máire, and Peadar...

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Inishfree: Inishfree the Album

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In September 1978, the Argentine pianist and composer Guillermo Cazenave was living on the island. He recorded an album there called Inishfree. The choice of a small Donegal island as a residence and recording studio for an Argentine musician fits a pattern that has held on this ...

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Inishfree: The Screamers

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The Atlantis commune was founded at Burtonport in 1974 by a group practicing primal therapy, the school of psychotherapy that holds repressed childhood pain can be released through unrestricted vocal expression. They came to be called The Screamers. The commune was led by Jenny J...

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Inishfree: Barry Pilcher Voted Early

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Barry Pilcher, an English saxophonist from Essex, moved to Inishfree Upper in 1993. He became the last permanent resident. Because bad weather on this coast could prevent ballot boxes from being collected, Pilcher and the residents of nearby small islands were granted the right t...

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